Two Dozen Poems & Two Essays Inspired by Four Lads from Liverpool
This little but big-hearted book begins with a sequence of two dozen sonnets on the subjects of the Beatles’ albums and songs, the four lads themselves, and the figures in their orbit—Brian Epstein, George Martin, Billy Preston, Bob Dylan. Luchs treats these topics with insight and affectionate but not uncritical devotion. Two essays round out the volume: an account of the little-known history of soundtrack composer Bernard Herrmann and the Beatles, and a eulogy for John Lennon, written the week after his murder, focusing on his leading role in the enduring humor of the Fab Four.
Kurt Luchs was born in Cheektowaga, New York, grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, and has lived and worked all over the United States, mostly in publishing and media. Currently he’s based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His first poetry publication came at age 16 in the long-gone journal Epos, right next to a poem by Bukowski. He wrote comedy for television (Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn) and radio (American Comedy Network), and contributed humor to the New Yorker, the Onion and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, among others. His poetry chapbooks include One of These Things Is Not Like the Other (Finishing Line Press 2019), and The Sound of One Hand Slapping (SurVision Press 2022). He won a 2022 Pushcart Prize, a 2021 James Tate Poetry Prize, the 2021 Eyelands Book Award for Short Stories, and the 2019 Atlanta Review International Poetry Contest. He is a Contributing Editor of Exacting Clam, the literary journal from Sagging Meniscus. More at kurtluchs.com and on Facebook.